UPDATE 2-Iranian nuclear scientist returns home from U.S.

* Washington says Amiri was in U.S. of his own free will
(adds quotes from news conference, background)

By Parisa Hafezi and Ramin Mostafavi

TEHRAN, July 15 (Reuters) - A nuclear scientist who says he
was abducted by U.S. agents thanked Iranian authorities for
returning him home on Thursday, the culmination of a murky saga
that has underscored deep U.S.-Iranian mistrust.

Washington denied kidnapping Shahram Amiri and insisted he
had lived freely in the United States. A U.S. official said,
however, that the United States, eager for details of Tehran's
nuclear programme, had obtained "useful" information from him.

Wearing a beige suit, a smiling Amiri made victory signs as
he hugged his tearful son and wife, who greeted him at Tehran's
International Imam Khomeini Airport, along with other family
members and a senior foreign ministry official, Hassan
Qashqavi.

"Americans wanted me to say that I defected to America of
my own will to use me for revealing some false information
about Iran's nuclear work," Amiri told a short news briefing at
the airport.

Qashqavi thanked Amiri for his "resistance to pressure".

Iran accuses the CIA of kidnapping Amiri, who worked for
Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation, a year ago while on a
pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia. He surfaced at the Iranian
interests section of the Pakistani embassy in Washington on
Monday.
Continued...